Morris “Morrie” Alhadeff (1914-1994) was General Manager and Chairman of the Board of the Longacres Racetrack in Renton, Washington. Alhadeff began working at Longacres in 1947 and took over running running the facility after Longacres founder (and Alhadeff’s father-in-law) Joseph Gottstein died in 1970. He and his wife, Joan Gottstein Alhadeff, were strong supporters of civil rights, and great patrons of Northwest art. A Seattle native, Alhadeff attended Garfield High School, Cornish College of the Arts, and the University of Washington. Before his work at Longacres, Alhadeff worked at several local radio stations under the name “Jerry Morris.”

In this interview, Alhadeff discusses his early life, his career at Longacres, and his patronage of the arts. A portion of the interview was conducted while touring various locations at Longacres.

Interview conducted by Emmett Watson on unspecified dates in September 1985 for the Don Schmechel Oral History Collection. This interview is part of the Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection. Don Schmechel, who was a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board, began this project with Seattle Public Library in 1984, with the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) brought on board as a partner in early 1985. Schmechel himself worked to raise the funding for the project, and volunteered his time to manage the project, and to conduct interviews along with a crew of volunteers. Originally titled the Videotaping Historic Figures (VHF) Program, the project interviewed 91 people, and MOHAI holds the interviews for 32 of these individuals.